Device of forming tire reinforcing layer

ABSTRACT

An object is to provide a tire reinforcing layer forming device which can form, by a single device, plural reinforcing layers whose cord directions intersect one another. A reinforcing material piece  12 A, which is distributed to an upper conveying path  72 U, is affixed from a left end side of a drum  16  toward a right side, while the drum  16  is rotated in a direction of arrow CW. In this way, the reinforcing material piece  12 A, which is affixed to an outer peripheral surface of the drum  16 , falls to the right, i.e., rises to the left. Thereafter, similarly, the reinforcing material pieces  12 A are successively affixed without gaps, and a first reinforcing layer is formed. Next, the reinforcing material piece  12 A, which is distributed to a lower conveying path  72 D, is affixed from the left end side of the drum  16  toward the right side, while the drum  16  is rotated in an opposite direction. In this way, the reinforcing material piece  12 A, which is affixed to an outer peripheral surface of the first reinforcing layer, rises to the right. Thereafter, similarly, the reinforcing material pieces  12 A are successively affixed without gaps, and a second reinforcing layer is formed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a tire reinforcing layer forming devicewhich is for forming tire reinforcing layers on an outer peripheralsurface of a drum.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY

As a tire reinforcing layer forming device which forms reinforcinglayers of a pneumatic tire, there is, for example, the tire reinforcinglayer forming device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open(JP-A) No. 2000-301628.

In this tire reinforcing layer forming device, accompanying therotational motion of a core, a cut reinforcing material (belt) is fedfrom one end side onto the peripheral surface of the core, and thereinforcing material is gradually pressed onto the core peripheralsurface along the entire length, so as to be press-joined thereto.

However, in this tire reinforcing layer forming device, when forming aso-called intersecting belt which is formed from two belt layers whosecord directions intersect one another, there is the need, with respectto one core, for two devices which are a tire reinforcing layer formingdevice for forming the belt layer whose cords are inclined upwardly tothe right and a tire reinforcing layer forming device for forming thebelt layer whose cords are inclined upwardly to the left. Thus, thereare the problems that the manufacturing facilities are expensive andrequire a wide space for placement.

The present invention has been developed in order to overcome theabove-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a tirereinforcing layer forming device which can form, by a single device,plural reinforcing layers whose cord directions intersect one another.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention is a tire reinforcing layer forming deviceforming a tire reinforcing layer on an outer peripheral surface of adrum, the tire reinforcing layer forming device including: a drum ableto rotate in both forward and reverse directions; conveying means forconveying, toward the drum, a strip-shaped reinforcing material in whicha plurality of cords, which are aligned parallel to one another, arerubber coated; cutting means for cutting the reinforcing materialobliquely with respect to a transverse direction; a first conveying pathprovided at a reinforcing material conveying direction downstream sideof the cutting means, and guiding the reinforcing material toward oneside in a peripheral direction of the drum; a second conveying pathprovided at the reinforcing material conveying direction downstream sideof the cutting means, and guiding the reinforcing material towardanother side in the peripheral direction of the drum; distributing meansfor distributing the reinforcing material, which has been cut, to one ofthe first conveying path and the second conveying path; and axialdirection moving means moving at least the first conveying path and thesecond conveying path along an axial direction of the drum.

Next, the operation and effects of this tire reinforcing layer formingdevice will be described.

In this tire reinforcing layer forming device, the cutting means cuts,obliquely with respect to the transverse direction, the reinforcingmaterial which is conveyed by the conveying means. In this way,reinforcing material pieces of a given length can be obtainedsuccessively.

The tire reinforcing piece is first distributed to the first conveyingpath by the distributing means.

The reinforcing material piece which is distributed to the firstconveying path is discharged from the first conveying path exit towardthe drum.

At this time, the first conveying path exit is made to correspond to anaxial direction one end side of the drum, and the leading end of thereinforcing material piece is affixed to the axial direction one endside of the drum, and thereafter, the reinforcing material piece issuccessively fed out, the drum is rotated in the forward direction, andthe first conveying path moves toward the axial direction other side ofthe drum.

In this way, the reinforcing material piece is affixed to the drum outerperipheral surface with, for example, the cord direction rising to theright.

Thereafter, similarly, the reinforcing material pieces are affixedsuccessively and without gaps in the peripheral direction of the drumouter peripheral surface, and a first reinforcing layer can be formed onthe drum outer peripheral surface.

Next, a second reinforcing layer is formed.

This time, the tire reinforcing piece is distributed to the secondconveying path by the distributing means.

The reinforcing material piece distributed to the second conveying pathis discharged from the second conveying path exit toward the drum.

At this time, the second conveying path exit is made to correspond tothe axial direction one end side of the drum, and the leading end of thereinforcing material piece is affixed to the axial direction one endside of the drum, and thereafter, the reinforcing material piece issuccessively fed out, the drum is rotated in the opposite direction thistime, and the second conveying path moves toward the axial directionother side of the drum.

In this way, the reinforcing material piece is affixed to the drum outerperipheral surface with, for example, the cord direction rising to theleft.

Thereafter, similarly, the reinforcing material pieces are affixedsuccessively and without gaps in the peripheral direction of the drumouter peripheral surface, and a second reinforcing layer can be formedon the first reinforcing layer.

In this way, intersecting belt layers can be formed on the outerperipheral surface of the drum.

Note that layers from a third layer on also can be formed similarly.

Accordingly, the tire reinforcing layer forming device of the presentinvention has the effect that it can form, by a single device, pluralreinforcing layers whose cord directions intersect one another.

The tire reinforcing layer forming device may have a reinforcingmaterial exit of the first conveying path that is inclined with respectto the axial direction of the drum, and a reinforcing material exit ofthe second conveying path that inclined in a direction opposite thereinforcing material exit of the first conveying path.

Next, the operation and effects of this tire reinforcing layer formingdevice will be described.

Because the cut reinforcing material pieces are affixed at an inclinewith respect to the axial direction of the drum, by inclining thereinforcing material exit of the first conveying path and thereinforcing material exit of the second conveying path with respect tothe drum axial direction, the inclinations of the reinforcing materialpieces can be set accurately, and further, it suffices to not twist thereinforcing material pieces at the time of affixing them to the drum,and therefore, the resistance at the time of affixing is decreased.

Note that, because the inclinations of the reinforcing material piecesdischarged from the first conveying path and the reinforcing materialpieces discharged from the second conveying path are opposite, inconformance therewith, the directions of inclination of the reinforcingmaterial exit of the first conveying path and the reinforcing materialexit of the second conveying path are made opposite to one another.

The tire reinforcing layer may include: first moving means for moving atleast the first conveying path and the second conveying path in a radialdirection orthogonal to the axial direction of the drum, and indirections of approaching and moving away from the drum; first movingmeans for moving at least the first conveying path and the secondconveying path in directions of approaching and moving away from thedrum which are orthogonal to the axial direction of the drum; and secondmoving means for moving at least the first conveying path and the secondconveying path in a direction orthogonal to both a moving direction bythe first moving means and the axial direction of the drum.

Next, the operation and effects of this tire reinforcing layer formingdevice will be described

In this tire reinforcing layer, at least the first conveying path andthe second conveying path can be moved by the first moving means in theradial direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the drum, and indirections of approaching and moving away from the drum.

Further, at least the first conveying path and the second conveying pathcan be moved by the second moving means in a direction orthogonal toboth the moving direction by the first moving means and the axialdirection of the drum.

In this way, when the diameter of the drum is changed, the positions ofthe first conveying path and the second conveying path, which feed-outthe reinforcing material pieces, can be set in conformance with thediameter of the drum.

In order to facilitate affixing of the reinforcing material pieces tothe drum, the first conveying path and the second conveying path can bemoved in a direction orthogonal to both the moving direction by thefirst moving means and the axial direction of the drum, and thepositions thereof can be adjusted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a tire reinforcing layer forming devicerelating to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cutting device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a conveying guide as seen from a drum side.

FIG. 4(A) is an explanatory diagram showing a process for forming afirst reinforcing layer.

FIG. 4(B) is an explanatory diagram showing a process for forming thefirst reinforcing layer.

FIG. 4(C) is an explanatory diagram showing a process for forming asecond reinforcing layer.

FIG. 4(D) is an explanatory diagram showing a process for forming thesecond reinforcing layer.

BEST MODE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE INVENTION

Next, a tire reinforcing layer forming device 10 relating to anembodiment of the present invention will be described in accordance withFIG. 1 through FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tire reinforcing layer forming device 10 of thepresent embodiment has a reinforcing material supplying device 14 whichremovably supports a shaft 13 around which is wound a strip-shapedreinforcing material 12, a drum 16 to which the reinforcing material 12is affixed, and an affixing device 18 which affixes the reinforcingmaterial 12 to the drum 16.

The affixing device 18 has a base 14A which is set on a floor surface. Apair of supporting columns 14B, which extend along the verticaldirection, stand erect at the top surface of the base 14A.

An up/down sliding member 20 is disposed between the pair of supportingcolumns 14B.

Slide rails 22A are mounted to the side surfaces of the supportingcolumns 14B. Slide units (e.g., linear motion bearings or the like) 22B,which are mounted to the side surfaces of the up/down sliding member 20,are held so as to be freely slidable at the slide rails 22A.

Further, a ball screw 26, which rotates by a servo motor 24, is providedparallel to the slide rails 22A at the base 14A.

A nut 30, which screws-together with the ball screw 26, is mounted tothe up/down sliding member 20.

Accordingly, due to the ball screw 26 being rotated by the servo motor24, the up/down sliding member 20 can move up and down.

A pair of slide rails 32A, which extend along the depthwise direction ofthe surface of FIG. 1 (the axial direction of the drum 16), are providedhorizontally at the top surface of the up/down sliding member 20.

A left/right sliding member 34 is provided above the up/down slidingmember 20. The left/right sliding member 34 is mounted to slide units32B which are held so as to be freely slidable at the slide rails 32A ofthe up/down sliding member 20.

Further, a ball screw 36 is supported so as to be freely rotatable via abearing 38, at the top surface of the up/down sliding member 20 betweenthe pair of slide rails 32A.

The ball screw 36 rotates by a servo motor 40 which is mounted to theup/down sliding member 20.

A nut 41, which screws-together with the ball screw 36, is mounted tothe bottom surface of the left/right sliding member 34.

Accordingly, due to the ball screw 36 being rotated by the servo motor40, the left/right sliding member 34 can move along the axial directionof the drum 16.

A pair of slide rails 42A (in FIG. 1, only one side is shown), whichextend along the left/right direction in FIG. 1 (the direction of arrowF, and the direction opposite to the direction of arrow F), are providedhorizontally on the top surface of the left/right sliding member 34.

A front/back sliding member 44 is provided above the left/right slidingmember 34. The front/back sliding member 44 is mounted to slide units42B which are held so as to be freely slidable at the slide rails 42A ofthe left/right sliding member 34.

Further, a ball screw 46 is supported via a bearing 48 so as to befreely rotatable at the top surface of the left/right sliding member 34between the pair of slide rails 42A.

The ball screw 46 is rotated by a servo motor 50 which is mounted to theleft/right sliding member 34.

A nut 51, which screws-together with the ball screw 46, is mounted tothe bottom surface of the front/back sliding member 44.

Accordingly, due to the ball screw 46 being rotated by the servo motor50, the front/back sliding member 44 can move in a direction ofapproaching the drum 16 (the direction of arrow F in FIG. 1, and thedirection opposite to the direction of arrow F).

A conveying device 52 which conveys the reinforcing material 12 isprovided on the top surface of the front/back sliding member 44.

The conveying device 52 has nipping rollers 54, 56, 58 which convey thereinforcing material 12 toward the drum 16. These nipping rollers 54,56, 58 rotate by an unillustrated servo motor.

A cutting device 60 for cutting the reinforcing material 12 is providedbetween the nipping rollers 54 and the nipping rollers 56.

The cutting device 60 has a cutter 62 having an angle (θ) with respectto the transverse direction of the reinforcing material 12, and acylinder 64 for moving the cutter 62 and cutting the reinforcingmaterial 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cutter 62 of the present embodiment cuts thereinforcing material 12 such that the cut surface rises to the right, asseen from above and from the conveying direction upstream side towardthe downstream side.

As shown in FIG. 1, a distributing device 65 is provided at the drum 16side of the nipping rollers 58.

The distributing device 65 has a pair of upper and lower rollers 66which are disposed in the horizontal direction. A supporting member 68,which supports the pair of rollers 66 such that they are freelyrotatable, can be moved up and down by a cylinder 70.

A conveying guide 72 is provided at the drum 16 side of the distributingdevice 65.

The conveying guide 72 has an upper conveying path 72U, which guides, atan upward incline, the reinforcing material 12 which is fed out frombetween the pair of rollers 66 of the distributing device 65, and alower conveying path 72D which guides, at a downward incline, thereinforcing material 12 which is fed out from between the pair ofrollers 66 of the distributing device 65.

Plural bearing rollers 74 are disposed densely along the conveyingdirection at the upper conveying path 72U and the lower conveying path72D, respectively.

Here, the upper conveying path 72U and the lower conveying path 72D aregradually twisted as they approach the drum 16. As shown in FIG. 3, whenviewing the affixing device from the drum side, the bearing rollers 74of the exit of the upper conveying path 72U rise to the left, and thebearing rollers 74 of the exit of the lower conveying path 72D rise tothe right.

Note that the drum 16 can rotate both forwardly and reversely by anunillustrated servo motor.

(Operation)

Next, operation of the tire reinforcing layer forming device 10 of thepresent embodiment will be described.

First, the step of forming a first reinforcing layer on the drum 16 willbe described.

The reinforcing material 12 is pulled-out by a predetermined amount bythe conveying device 52, and cutting is carried out by the cuttingdevice 60, and reinforcing material pieces 12A of uniform lengths aresuccessively obtained. Note that the reinforcing material piece 12A is aparallelogram.

The cut reinforcing material piece 12A is conveyed by the conveyingdevice 52 toward the distributing device 65.

The reinforcing material piece 12A is first, via between the rollers ofthe distributing device 65, distributed to the upper conveying path 72U.

The reinforcing material piece 12A, which is distributed to the upperconveying path 72U, is discharged from the upper conveying path exittoward the drum.

At this time, the upper conveying path exit is made to correspond to theleft end side of the drum 16, and the leading end of the reinforcingmaterial piece 12A is affixed to the left end side of the drum 16 (seeFIG. 4(A)). Thereafter, the reinforcing material piece 12A issuccessively fed-out, the drum 16 is rotated in the direction of arrowCW (in FIG. 1, the clockwise direction), and the left/right slidingmember 34 moves toward the right end side of the drum 16 (see FIG.4(B)).

In this way, the reinforcing material piece 12A which is affixed to theouter peripheral surface of the drum 16 falls to the right, i.e., risesto the left.

Thereafter, similarly, by successively and without gaps affixing thereinforcing material pieces 12A in the peripheral direction of the drumouter peripheral surface, a first reinforcing layer, in which the cordsrise to the left, is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum16.

Next, a step of forming a second reinforcing layer on the firstreinforcing layer will be described.

Here, the cut reinforcing material piece 12A is distributed to the lowerconveying path 72D by the distributing device 65. The position of thepair of rollers 66 of the distributing device 65 is moved by thecylinder 70 further downward than at the time of distributing thereinforcing material piece 12A to the upper conveying path 72U.

The reinforcing material piece 12A which is distributed to the lowerconveying path 72D is discharged from the lower conveying path exittoward the drum.

At this time, the second conveying path exit is made to correspond tothe left end side of the drum 16, and the leading end of the reinforcingmaterial piece 12A is affixed to the left end side of the drum 16 (seeFIG. 4(C)). Thereafter, the reinforcing material piece 12A issuccessively fed-out, the drum 16 is rotated in the direction of arrowCCW (in FIG. 1, the direction opposite to the clockwise direction), andthe left/right sliding member 34 moves toward the right end side of thedrum 16 (see FIG. 4(D)).

In this way, the reinforcing material piece 12A which is affixed to theouter peripheral surface of the drum 16 rises to the right.

Thereafter, similarly, by successively and without gaps affixing thereinforcing material pieces 12A in the peripheral direction of the drumouter peripheral surface, a second reinforcing layer, in which the cordsrise to the right, is formed on the outer peripheral surface of thefirst reinforcing layer (reference numeral 76 of FIG. 5).

In this way, in the present embodiment, so-called intersecting beltlayers, in which the cord directions intersect one another at the firstlayer and the second layer, are formed.

Note that, when changing to a drum 16 of a different diameter inaccordance with the tire size, the front/back sliding member 44 movesfront and back (in the directions of approaching and moving away fromthe drum 16), and the upper conveying path exit and the lower conveyingpath exit can be disposed near to the drum 16.

Further, in the present embodiment, a case of forming two layers ofbelts is described, but thereafter, a third layer and layers thereaftercan similarly be formed so as to form three or more intersecting beltlayers.

Further, in the present embodiment, the reinforcing material 12 isnipped and conveyed by the nipping rollers 54, 56, 58, but thereinforcing material 12 may be conveyed by a roller conveyor or may besucked and conveyed.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the tire reinforcing layer forming device relatingto the present invention is suited for use in tire manufacturingfactories, and is suited to, for example, cases of forming reinforcinglayers of a pneumatic tire.

1. A tire reinforcing layer forming device forming a tire reinforcinglayer on an outer peripheral surface of a drum, the tire reinforcinglayer forming device comprising: a drum able to rotate in both forwardand reverse directions; conveying means for conveying, toward the drum,a strip-shaped reinforcing material in which a plurality of cords, whichare aligned parallel to one another, are rubber coated; cutting meansfor cutting the reinforcing material obliquely with respect to atransverse direction of the reinforcing material; a first conveying pathprovided at a reinforcing material conveying direction downstream sideof the cutting means, and guiding the reinforcing material toward thedrum; a second conveying path provided at the reinforcing materialconveying direction downstream side of the cutting means, and guidingthe reinforcing material toward the drum; distributing means fordistributing the reinforcing material, which has been cut, to one of thefirst conveying path and the second conveying path; and axial directionmoving means moving at least one of either the first conveying path orthe second conveying path along an axial direction of the drum, whiledischarging the reinforcing material from the one of either the firstconveying path or the second conveying path to the rotating drum;wherein the distributing means distribute the reinforcing material tothe first conveying path and the second conveying path at an initialorientation, the first conveying path is twisted so that a reinforcingmaterial exit of the conveying path is inclined with respect to theinitial orientation, and the second conveying path is twisted so that areinforcing material exit of the first conveying path is inclined withrespect to the initial orientation, and the second conveying path istwisted so that a reinforcing material exit of the second conveying pathis inclined with respect to the initial orientation in a directionopposite the reinforcing material exit of the first conveying path. 2.The tire reinforcing layer forming device of claim 1, comprising: firstmoving means for moving at least the first conveying path and the secondconveying path in directions of approaching and moving away from thedrum which are orthogonal to the axial direction of the drum; and secondmoving means for moving at least the first conveying path and the secondconveying path in a direction orthogonal to both a moving direction bythe first moving means and the axial direction of the drum.